Red Top Lookout is located on Teanaway Ridge on the Cle Elum Ranger
District. It was built in 1928 as a D-6 cupola cabin with 12'x12'
frame. It was rebuilt in 1952 as an L-4 14'x14' cab atop a 10'
treated timber tower. After the 1980's it was no longer used as a
fire lookout and began to deteriorate.
On August 26,1997, a group of lookout enthusiasts gathered at
Red Top Lookout on the Wentachee National Forest in Washington to
dedicate the lookout on the NATIONAL HISTORIC LOOKOUT REGISTER. The
event capped a two year restoration effort by the Friends of Red
Top Mountain and the Cle Elum Ranger District. The L-4 wooden cab
with catwalk on a 10' timber tower had been battered by 45 years of
weather and was beginning to show it. It replaced a D-6 cupola
ground house built in 1928. The lookout is now back in active
service both for fire detection and a public information site for
the 350 million year old jasper geodes which are found nearby.
This cache is located just below the lookout. Take USFS Road
9738 off the Blewett Pass hiway (near Mineral Springs). Drive 8
miles up to the parking lot for the lookout. The elevation at the
cache is about 5100 ft. There is an awesome view from the top. You
can see Mt. Stewart and the Enchantments, The Teanaway valley, and
Mt.s Rainier and Adams. There are picnic tables, a barbecue pit,
and restrooms at the parking lot.
Thanks Hydnsek for the photo of the lookout. Good luck and enjoy
the short hike and awesome scenery.
